Chapel Hill High School is a

public high school A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, Orange and Durham County, North Carolina, Durham counties, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 United States census, making Chapel Hill the List of municipa ...

. It is located close to the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

. Chapel Hill High School is part of the

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) is a school district which educates over 12,000 students (pre-K through 12th grade) in the southeastern part of Orange County, North Carolina. Being near three major universities as well as the Researc ...

district which contains two other high schools,

Carrboro High School Carrboro High School is located in Carrboro, North Carolina, United States. It is located close to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Carrboro High school is part of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district which contains t ...

and

East Chapel Hill High School East Chapel Hill High School is a public high school in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It is the second high school of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district, which also contains Chapel Hill High School and Carrboro High School. The t ...

History

Chapel Hill High School's original school building was located on West Franklin Street, and housed the school for white students starting in 1916. That same year, Orange County Training School (which later became Lincoln High School), opened at 750 Merritt Mill Road for black students. In 1936, a new high school building for Chapel Hill High was constructed on Columbia Street, where the

UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy is the pharmacy school of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a public university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The school of pharmacy also maintains a satellite campus at UNC Asheville. Histo ...

is now located. This school building burnt down in 1942, and wasn't rebuilt until after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Classes would meet at various locations until a newly constructed school building opened back on West Franklin Street in 1947. Chapel Hill High would remain at its West Franklin Street location until 1966. In 1966, a new high school building opened on High School Road, with Chapel Hill High merging with Lincoln High to form the new integrated Chapel Hill High School."A Thousand Words" column by Jock Lauterer, "Chapel Hill High School, 1962", ''The Carrboro Citizen'', December 24, 2008, pg. 8 Lincoln High School was known for its award-winning football and band programs. In particular, its 1961 football team won the NCHSAC state championship without a single point being scored against it all year, while averaging over 40 points per game. On April 15, 2010, a student brought a gun on a school bus and accidentally shot it at the ground. No one was hurt, but the school and several nearby schools went on lockdown. The student was later arrested. CHHS front

In June 2018, construction began for a major ($70 million) renovation of Chapel Hill High, including the construction of new buildings. Construction was completed in August 2021.

Academics

In 1999, Chapel Hill High School was listed as one of the top-performing U.S. high schools in ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' (October 15, 1999), for "the best student performance over the past 10 years based on

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...

, achievement-test and standardized-test scores." In 2005, 62.5% of students took the

and scored an average of 1156 compared to a state average of 1008. Similarly, 97.3% of the student body has taken the PSAT, and scored an average of 155 compared to the state average of 133. Also, 69.2% (306 students) have participated in

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board. AP offers undergraduate university-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities in the US and elsewhere ...

(AP) examinations with 73.5% of all scores scoring above a 3. As of 2005, Chapel Hill High School also has a high graduation rate of 94.7%. In 2005, 94.7% of students were proficient on State English I tests, and 93.1% of students were proficient on State Algebra I tests. The school posted the third highest average SAT score in the Raleigh Durham area: 1754 with 87.9% of students taking the test.

Athletics

Chapel Hill High School has around 20 athletic teams. In the fall, the school offers

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense Physical exercise, physical activity. It can be performed to motivate s ...

, cross country,

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, men's

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

, women's

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

ultimate frisbee Ultimate frisbee (officially simply called ultimate) is a non-contact team sport played with a disc flung by hand. Ultimate was developed in 1968 by Joel Silver, Buzzy Hellring, and Jonny Hines in Maplewood, New Jersey. Although ultimate rese ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, and women's

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

. In the winter, the school offers cheerleading, men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, women's basketball,

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

and

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

, and

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

. In the spring, the school offers men's golf, men's

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

, women's soccer,

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

, men's tennis, track,

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, and women's lacrosse. Chapel Hill High School has won many state championships in athletics such as back to back trophies in the 3A Men’s Soccer in 2017 and 2018, and their 3A Women’s Soccer program winning in 2018, tying the state record for number of goals allowed with 2.

The arts

Chapel Hill High has performing and visual arts programs. The school offers band, orchestra, drama, dance, and chorus classes. It has an award-winning marching band and critically-acclaimed theatre department.

Robotics team

Students from Chapel Hill High school have operated a

FIRST Robotics Competition FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition operated by ''FIRST''®. Each year, teams of high school students, coaches, and mentors work to build robots capable of competing in that year's game. Robots c ...

team since 2013 called the Titanium Tigers. The robotics team, number 4829, was notable for ranking second in the North Carolina Championship in the 2022 season, going on to play in the Roebling division of the annual

FIRST Championship The FIRST Championship is a four-day robotics championship held annually in April at which FIRST student robotics teams compete. For several years, the event was held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, but moved to the Edward Jones Dome ...

. The school hosted two off-season events, THOR 3 and Doyenne Inspiration, with the school's team co-winning both events, along with the team of

. In the 2023 season, their competing robot was named Charles, after Charles Blanchard, the former principal who retired during competition season.

Notable alumni

* Bill Ransom Campbell,

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

architect *

Anna Clendening Anna Clendening (born March 12, 1993) is an American singer, actress, and Internet personality, known originally for being one of the most followed people on the now-defunct video sharing service Vine, and later as a contestant on season 9 of ' ...

, singer, actress, and internet personality * Harold Covington (1971),

white nationalist White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a Race (human categorization), raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbara ...

author and

National Socialist Party of America The National Socialist Party of America (NSPA) was a Chicago-based organization founded in 1970 by Frank Collin shortly after he left the National Socialist White People's Party. The party's headquarters was in Chicago's Marquette Park, and its ...

(NSPA) leader * Jamie Dell, professional soccer player *

Hampton Dellinger Hampton Yeats Dellinger (born April 30, 1967) is an American lawyer who served as United States Office of Special Counsel, Special Counsel of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel until fired by President Donald Trump. Initially dismissed on Februa ...

, attorney *

Sarah Dessen Sarah Dessen (born June 6, 1970) is an American novelist who lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Born in Illinois, Dessen graduated from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Her first book, ''That Summer'', was published in 1996. She ...

(1988), young adult novelist * Dovonte Edwards, former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

cornerback *

Clark Gregg Robert Clark Gregg Jr. (born April 2, 1962) is an American actor, director, and screenwriter. He portrayed Phil Coulson in films and television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from 2008 to 2024, and voiced Coulson in an animated tele ...

, actor who played

Phil Coulson Agent Phillip J. "Phil" Coulson ( ) is a fictional character portrayed and voiced by Clark Gregg in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise. Coulson is depicted as a high-ranking member of the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and longt ...

in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...

Meredith Hagner Meredith Kathleen Hagner (born May 31, 1987) is an American actress. She began her career portraying List of As the World Turns characters#C, Liberty Ciccone on the CBS soap opera ''As the World Turns'' (2008–2010), which earned her a Daytime Em ...

(2005), actress *

Bernardo Harris Bernardo Harris (born October 15, 1971) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League. He attended Chapel Hill High School, graduating in 1990. He was recruited by Mack Brown to play col ...

, former NFL linebacker and

Super Bowl XXXI Super Bowl XXXI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

champion with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

Alexander Julian Alexander Julian (born February 8, 1948) is an American fashion designer, known for his ''Colours'' clothing brand and designing his own clothing fabric. Julian has won five Coty Awards for design — the first before age 30—and the Cutty Sark ...

, clothing designer * Alex Kerr (2019), soccer player * Gina Kim (2018),

LPGA The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly ...

golfer * Estelle Lawson, amateur golfer * Mick Mixon, play-by-play radio announcer for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

* Mia Oliaro (2023), soccer player for the

Duke Blue Devils The Duke Blue Devils are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the N ...

* Brian Roberts, two-time All-Star

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player with the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

* Henrik Rödl, basketball coach * Clifford Skakle, former professional tennis player * Scott Speiser, actor and writer *

Josh Stein Joshua Harold Stein (born September 13, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the 76th List of governors of North Carolina, governor of North Carolina since 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat ...

, former

state senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

and current

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of North Carolina * Matt Stevens, former NFL safety and

Super Bowl XXXVI Super Bowl XXXVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion St. Louis Rams and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

champion with the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

* Tauren "Strick" Strickland, rapper * Ben Strong, basketball coach * David Taylor, former NFL offensive tackle *

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the single "Fi ...

(attended until mid-junior year), singer-songwriter and guitarist *

Livingston Taylor Livingston Taylor (born November 21, 1950) is an American singer-songwriter and folk musician. Born in Boston and raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, he is the brother of singer-songwriter James Taylor, singer-songwriter Kate Taylor, singer ...

, singer-songwriter and folk musician; younger brother of James

References

External links

The Chapel Hill High School official website

Proconian newspaper website
{{authority control Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Public high schools in North Carolina Schools in Orange County, North Carolina * Buildings and structures in Chapel Hill, North Carolina Brick buildings and structures in North Carolina